Phase Converter?

this came up a short while ago. Most blade welders are single phase. chuck

Yes..It "should work" on a phase converter and no the blade welder will not work off a vfd. On the other hand...the blade welder is single phase, so may be simply wired directly to your single phase input. Nice score on the do-all. Very nice machines assuming good condition. Parts are problematic for the older ones. By which I mean anything made before the 60s..of which there are still a bunch around as they last so long. On the gripping hand..you can make most anything that breaks because they are simple.

Gunner "Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Thanks for the help.

Joe..

Thanks Gunner. I appreciate the help.

Joe...

There is already a reeves drive on the saw to change the speed. A VFD will work but its a waste to put it on the saw because at slower speeds of the VFD you won't get all the hp out of the motor.

John

Thanks John. You make a great point. There is no doubt that I will need to use a phase converter. The only thing left to decise is whether to go static or phase.

Thanks again.

Joe...

*Don't* use a static phase converter -- it will only give you about 2/3 of the motor's rated horsepower, and in particular, when you are loading it with a heavy cut, it is quite likely to blow the start capacitor which will switch in when the speed is loaded down enough.

A rotary converter would be a far better way to go. Pick up a used three phase motor of about 1-1/2 to 2 times the horsepower rating of the motor in the saw, and ask around here for pointers to how to make it into a rotary converter.

Good Luck, DoN.

Don,

Like I said, the only thing I need to do is buy or make a rotary phase converter :-).

Thanks for the advice.

My sincerest appreciation for the help.

Joe...

Like I said, the only thing I need to do is buy or make a rotary phase

Swapping the 3phase motor out for a single phase seems like a viable option to me.

I've been running my 16" DoAll ML on a static converter for about 10 years without a hitch, including leaning on it pretty hard with the cable feed cutting 2" hot roll and 6" Al plate. I do have the ability to switch over to a large rotary converter with the flip of a switch, but have never found it necessary. IIRC the static converter is a heavy duty

3/4 to 1-1/2 HP Phase-a-matic, the saw has a 3/4 HP motor.

The blade welder is wired to the normal hot legs and coexists happily with the static converter.

Ned Simmons